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MSP: TORIES MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR UNIVERSAL CREDIT FAILINGS

THOSE DEFRAUDED MUST GET SUPPORT

SNP MSP for the Angus South Constituency, Graeme Dey, has called on the UK government to take ownership of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) failings over Universal Credit, to ensure people receive the money they deserve and are not penalised for having been defrauded.

Leading an Urgent Question in the Commons this week, SNP Work and Pensions spokesperson Neil Gray highlighted a scam uncovered by the BBC in which criminals obtain claimants’ details to make fraudulent online applications for Universal Credit.

The scam is reported to have left some claimants £1,500 worse off, with losses to the DWP reported to be spiralling to as much as £20 million. In the same week, it was reported by The Independent that the DWP has cut staff numbers by 21% since Universal Credit began – the equivalent of 19,189 staff.

People are often being doubly hit, because fraudsters have applied for an advanced payment and then disappear with a portion of the funds. Because advanced payments are a loan from DWP, claimants are out of pocket and then have to pay back the loan – pushing them further into debt.

The SNP has consistently condemned the UK Government’s decision to make advanced payments a loan as an “entirely counter-intuitive and parsimonious” policy. The party is calling on the UK Government to pay applicants the money they deserve.

Commenting, Mr Dey said:

“What has happened here is a scandalous result of negligence on the part of a Tory UK Government so entirely preoccupied with pursuing Brexit, to the detriment of vulnerable people who have fallen victim to avoidable fraud.

“Clearly, systems should have been in place to prevent such abuse, but the slashing of support staff by the DWP will undoubtedly not have helped those affected either. It is also perfectly evident now that the five-week wait is driving people to foodbanks and worse, while the Advance Payment that criminals have exploited should not take the form of a loan in any case.

“Obviously those who have been defrauded should not be made to pay back this money, which for some is thousands of pounds.

“This whole debacle further highlights this Tory Government’s total disregard for the most vulnerable in our society.”